Facile Route Using Highly Arrayed PMMA Spheres as Hard Template for the Fabrication of 3D Ordered Nanoporous MgO

"Using magnesium nitrate as Mg source and regularly packed polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) spheres were synthesized via a combined strategy of emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization and water floating technique as hard template, we fabricated ordered nanoporous magnesium oxide. The synthesized PMMA and MgO samples were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction, high-resolution scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and selected area electron diffraction. It was observed that the synthesized PMMA spheres possessed a uniform diameter of approximately 284 nm and were in a highly ordered array, and the MgO generated by using the PMMA-templating method exhibited polycrystallinity with three-dimensionally ordered pores. BET surface area of the synthesized MgO sample is 100.7 m2/g, pore volume is 0.46 cm3/g, wall thickness is 4-24 nm, and pore sizes are in the range of 10-120 nm. Such a 3D high-surface-area nanoporous strongly basic MgO is useful in the applications of catalyst supports and acidic gas adsorbents."